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Mel Allen's New England
Mel Allen is the fifth editor of Yankee Magazine since its beginning in 1935. His career at Yankee spans nearly three decades, during which he has edited and written for every section of the magazine, including home, food, and travel.
In his pursuit of stories, he has raced a sled dog team, crawled into the dens of black bears, fished with the legendary Ted Williams, picked potatoes in Aroostook Country, and stood beneath a battleship before it was launched. Mel teaches magazine writing at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and is author of A Coach's Letter to His Son.
The Up Side to Recession
Make it do, wear it out, use it up, or do without
January 6, 2009 at 3:14 PM | Post a Comment
Recently I brought some pants in to Jane's in Stitches, a tiny nook of a place on a side street in Peterborough, New Hampshire. In her neat, cozy room, Jane sews and alters and repairs whatever it is people wear and want to keep wearing. A young man stood in front of me; he had come to pick up a hooded sweatshirt that had needed a new zipper. "Thank you so much," he said to Jane. "So much," he added. It was obvious that this well-faded sweatshirt, emblazoned with the logo of a school whose name I couldn't make out, meant the world to him. Now freshly zippered, it would hopefully last for years ahead.
After the Ice
Something new to talk about
December 29, 2008 at 12:16 PM | Post a Comment
It took a force of nature unlike what most of us had seen before to change the subject. Before the rain and sleet that froze blindingly beautiful and lethal on our trees and power lines and whatever stood outdoors, we were boring each other with dire words about our investments, retirement accounts, and foreboding over the economy. There's only so much empathy we can give one another over depleted savings before we all want to become hermits. Then came the ice storm for the ages.
The Gift of the Glaciers
Summer swimming holes of New England
July 23, 2008 at 12:06 PM | Post a Comment
During my childhood summers in Chester County, Pennsylvania I did many things: played baseball, rode my bike, caught fireflies, waited for the twilight jingle of the ice cream truck -- but swimming in clear fresh water was not one of them. My town was too far south for the ice age glaciers to have reached it, so there was no retreat and melting, no carving of the hundreds of deep ponds and lakes that so refresh the New England landscape.
Write It and They Will Come
The loyalty and trust of Yankee magazine readers
July 14, 2008 at 12:00 PM | 1 Comment | Post a Comment
The July/August issue of Yankee features one of the most complex stories we have done during my nearly 30 years here at Yankee. We titled it "25 People You Must See This Summer." We put this together many months ago when the editors got together repeatedly to toss out the names of New Englanders we knew personally, or New Englanders we had read about, or New Englanders we wished we knew. We finally reached agreement on 30 people. Then we called a team of photographers and set them loose.
The 5 Best, Surefire Ways to Break into Yankee
Tips for writers
July 8, 2008 at 4:24 PM | 7 Comments | Post a Comment
"How do I break into Yankee?" I hear that question over and over from hopeful writers. Through the years, I've spoken to hundreds of freelancers at writers' conferences, as well as on the phone and through letters and e-mails. The earnestness and hope in that question are not to be taken lightly.
